To Paint the World
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Neji is exhasperated. Again. "Subtlety is lost on you," the Hyuuga said drily. "Quite frankly, Tenten, you have an odor." NejiTen, 100 Themes Theme 56. Breasts.
1. Sake

A/N: Theme 031 in the NejiTen Livejournal community.

**100 Themes: Sake**

_What a wonderful idea_, Neji thought bitterly. _Yes; let's all go get our female teammate drunk and see what happens. Oh, and, of course, let's leave her with the genius. Perfect._

He sighed and readjusted his intoxicated comrade on his shoulders. She laughed and giggled, and made odd noises that resembled those a cat would make. Tenten made slurred comments about a variety of things; birds, houses, the sky, his clothes, his scent… Neji was slightly jarred back to reality when he heard Tenten start singing… again.

"Tenten," he said in his most commanding voice, "Stop singing." She chuckled.

"Aw, Neji, you're no fun. You –hic- need to loosen up a little!" She gripped his shoulders and laughed. "Sing with me, Neji-kun!" He winced as she bellowed the lyrics of some Australian drinking song, and put his hand firmly over her mouth. "I said to stop," he said, feeling like he was speaking to a child. She pouted.

"Neji-kuuuun," she whined, and wrapped both arms around his neck. He suppressed a shudder, and looked down at her. "Would you… carry me?" she purred. He was about to berate her for her childish ways when she slumped over. Reflexes had him catch her just in time, and he hefted her into his arms, bridal style.

"Thanks, Neji-kun," she murmured, and buried her face into his chest.

Neji smirked.

"No more sake for you."


	2. Sunlight

A/N; Just because people seemed to think that this thing would continue. Theme #042

Edit; XP Thanks, bastard. I changed it.

**Sunlight**

Neji halted when Tenten suddenly froze. Her body looked as if it had been paused, her arm outstretched in his direction, weapon barely dangling from her fingertips. She seemed to be transfixed with the blade. And then with him. And then, back to the kunai.

Repeat.

Neji, curious and more than a little irritated, spoke up. "Tenten."

She snapped out of her daze and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Neji. I got distracted."

So he'd noticed. He gave her an inquiring look. And, of course she understood: she always did.

"It's just... the light. If I look just right at your reflection here," she gestured to the kunai, "the light sort of... well, there's this ray of sun that just..." She huffed. "At the risk of sounding totally cliche, a beam of sunlight highlights you with an ethereal, golden glow. In your reflection," she added self-consciously, grimacing and rubbing the back of her neck. He was quiet for a minute, and then smirked.

"I've never heard something so cliche come from your mouth."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"And you never will again," Tenten replied, tossing the kunai, blade-first in his direction.

Neji never called her on the fact that for the rest of their training session, she always subtly glance at her kunai and then at him before aiming it his way. And he never did tell her that her cliche utterings finally put his constant cloudless-days view on her to words.

_You are the sunlight, Tenten._


	3. Hold My Hand

A/N; Because, obviously, two isn't enough. Theme #074

**Hold My Hand**

"Okay, Neji."

This wasn't happening.

"You know what to do."

Why was he here again?

"It's time."

Neji swallowed heavily. Tenten stood there beside him, her gaze scrutinizing the crowd before them.

"I believe in you, Neji," she stated, finally turning to him with a smile. So, maybe he could do this after all... "Mission PDA commencing," she chirped, turning back to the busy street ahead. Swallowing for the second time, his hand made its way to hers. It was his left hand, the one connected to the arm covered in (or so Tenten claimed) unecessary bandages. She squeezed said hand and they began to walk through town.

Neji grimaced as he heard the obvious cooings and infuriated screechings of nearby women, and the wolf-whistling and jeering laughter from nearby men. He smirked at some of their crestfallen faces; this eliminated _so_ many fanboys and girls.

"You're doing well, Neji," Tenten said happily, waving at someone across the street. He looked at her as she smiled, and felt a smile of his own creeping onto his pale face.

Subtly, his bandaged fingers interlaced with her bare ones.

"Thanks."


	4. Mistakes

A/N; Just so you all know (because I got many reviews about this), in the last chapter, Tenten and Neji were walking, holding hands. "Mission PDA commencing" was basically there to clue you in, but I guess not. PDA (in case you didn't know; that's okay, I used to be the same) is Public Display of Affection (though it also stands for something else, but I'm not really too caring. Tenten was getting Neji to do a PDA for her. It's a girl thing.

I'm sorry that it wasn't clear enough last chap; I kinda wrote it in ISS a long time ago.

Theme #061

**Mistakes**

She bends, contorting her body into odd shapes. This is her automatic dodge reaction- she is flying through the air, dancing without her feet, to escape her own weapons and the blueish glow of the Kaiten. She plans to land gracefully on her feet, as usual. She has already formed a new tactic to wear him down, to gain the much-needed advantage, as usual. She is smiling through her exhaustion, as usual.

But this time, it is different.

She finds herself falling, despite her balance. Or, rather, lack thereof. Her heart plunges with her, and she braces herself for the ground... for impact...

She reaches, hands-first, for the hard earth below, hoping that, with some miracle, she will be able to land, though abnormally, still without breaking.

The impact is sudden, though not unexpected in its jarring effect on her. She landed on her palms, sprung back, and ended the odd dance on her knees. He has ceased his spin and gave her his slightly questioning stare.

"A new technique?"

She smiled a little.

"No. A mistake."

He scoffed.

"You don't make mistakes, Tenten. We wouldn't be here if you did. Now, stand."

Her eyebrows shot up and her lips parted slowly. Then, she grinned. It wasn't a compliment...

"Yes, Neji."

... It was the way that he established that she was the only one.

Returning to their spar, though bruised, she was extremely happy with her new foundings.

- - o 0 o - -

**I bet you though Neji was going to catch her. Nope! I am all for girls being able to stand on their own two feet. And, besides, I saw this as pre-timeskip, and Neji would have expected her to land on her own. And, quite frankly, to have Neji catch her would sort of defeat the purpose of the "make no mistakes" thing. **

**-Bya-chan **


	5. Heal

A/N; I started writing this in choir. The rest written on this document is inspired by the song 'You're So Real' by Matchbox 20. This is probably one of my favorite pieces of writing; I hope you enjoy!

**Theme #084**

**Heal**

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

"No, it's just... ow."

She winced, her fists clenching and unclenching. Her tense shoulders probably didn't help, but it was automatic- tension comes after pain. Immediately after. You brace yourself for further pain. She wouldn't be truthful if she said the treatment didn't hurt almost as much as the injury itself. But he was willing to help her, so she bit her tongue. Or, tried to, at least.

The dab of cotton coated in some sort of antidote pricked along her exposed back. He was gentle, but it still hurt like hell. A hot stab surged up her spine and she hissed.

"Neji, please..."

She knew he heard her. She knew he understood her silent continuation of the plea.

She knew her words were useless.

"If I stop, it will only delay the inevitable."

"Agh, hurry _up_ then!" she bit out, instantly regretting her harsh tone and words. If he was affected, he didn't show it. Silence reined again, and he continued to doctor her injuries. She turned her head, glancing at him with one visible eye. His gaze was focused on the lacerations inflicted upon the skin of her back.

Her shoulders slowly relaxed- he seemed so _transfixed_, his lavender orbs etching the red gashes. She clutched the cloth covering her front close to her chest.

"I'm sorry." The apology came out as a sigh. His motions ceased. She held her breath, waiting for him to reply. When he did not, she realized he expected her to continue. She exhaled and turned to him fully, pulling the cloth higher. To her throat. They sat now, her legs crossed, knees touching only in the slightest. She caught and held his eyes. "I'm sorry I snapped," she explained. "And I'm sorry I took the liberty of shaming you in that fight. I should have known you could handle those nin- I shouldn't have barged into your battle. I know you don't need someone to protect you." She sighed. "I'm sorry you have to be here."

Her head hung and her bangs shadowed her downcast face. "You don't, by the way. You... you can go." A sudden smile was thrust toward him, catching the man slightly off guard. He was stricken by how utterly... _false_ it was. Her smiles were _never_ false. Even when she gave that small upward tug of lips to Lee in moments of crisis, it still held small amounts of good humor and amusement. It was still _real_.

Unlike this meaningless mouth contortion.

He frowned slightly. "Turn around, Tenten."

She bowed her head again and complied. After many minutes of torture endured in silence, Tenten heard the gentle rustle of cloth and saw his arm reach around her to hand her her chest-binding bandages. His warmth seeped through his traditional Hyuuga robe and made her skin tingle. "Here," he murmered, to which she replied with a quick _thanks_ and a blush. Carefully, slowly, she let the sheet drop from her chest and began to wrap the bindings. But after she'd made the first go-round, Tenten felt his warm, firm fingers on her shoulders. She stopped moving abruptly, and even her lungs seemed uncooperative. "Let me help you."

She nodded weakly, letting him begin to tighten and loosen the long strip of white linen. He would hand it to her to wrap around her chest, and she would hand it beck to him under her arm, the cycle continuing until Neji tyed the bindings firmly near her right shoulder blade.

"Thank you," she all but whispered, to which he merely nodded. Until she heard his low voice.

"I hope..." His voice faltered. _I hope you heal quickly._ She shook her head and smiled.

"Never mind, Neji."_ I know. Thank you._

It wasn't a confession of affection or concern. But it was enough for Tenten.

_-Fin- _

**WAAH! I was halfway finished with this, took a break, and read an **_**extremely**_** smutty KakaSaku fic (my brain was thoroughly fried, thanks), and I came back to write the rest, glanced at the first few lines, and was like O.O Extreme mental scramble. XD (I was thinking 'WHAT?? WHEN DID THIS BECOME S'DARN RAUNCHY???' and then it was like 'Oh. Right. -sweatdrop-'). I know. I suck. **

**This was sorta based on a pic I drew that had Neji tying the chest-bindings kunoichi use. Personally, I like those better than bras XD (TMI, I know -haha-)**

**Review and you get my undying affection! I luffsh you!**

**-Bya-chan**

**P.S.- THe KakaSaku fic was ****In the Kitchen**** by **_**wolfrequiem**_**. Mind-bending powers, this one has...**


	6. Breasts

A/N; Wow. It's been over a year since I updated this. Hmm.  
What? My excuse? Geez... um... my cat. It, uh... never exsisted. Which scarred me terribly.  
-cough-  
ALSO! Just for reference, these little spurts of energy and creativity (and glitter and rainbows and electric zaps that BURN YOU, WAH-HA!) don't have anything to do with each other. Unless I say so. Because I've got the powah.

**Theme #056. **

**Breasts**

Once upon a time, there was a white silk blouse. And that's all Neji needs to hear before recoiling into his mental shell.

Once upon a time before the time priorly mentioned for Neji's benifit, there was a hassled kunoichi with an empty closet and a broken washing machine. In distress, the damsel poked around town for a kind soul who would lend her some clothing for the mission that was tomorrow.

There were more excuses than there were people asked, so Distressed Damsel Kunoichi-san went straight to the heart of the problem.

He met her at the gate.

"Neji. You're the one that requested the mission. It's your responsibility to keep your teammates fully clothed."

"Don't lecture me, Tenten," he deadpanned, leading her up the walk, into the Branch house, into his room, out of his room, and up a stone pathway. Pointing a finger and tossing the bundle of white into her arms, Neji felt that he was done here.

"Hold up." She'd taken a fistful of his sleeve, and tugged on it so that he was forced to backtrack. "The bathhouse? Are you trying to tell me something, Neji?"

"Subtlety is lost on you," the Hyuuga said drily. "Quite frankly, Tenten, you have an _odor_."

Her face flushed hotly. "What are you talking about? Sure, my water's been shut off because I forgot to pay the bill, but I use the public baths every night!"

"Yes. What a disgusting smell."

"Don't knock the shampoo!" she cried, stomping up to the bathhouse angrily. Anger was overcome by wonder as she took in the ginormous, fancy-schmancy Hyuuga baths. Tenten soon realized why Neji was so eager to mock her taste in shampoo. _Geez. Even the tiles smell posh. Rich jerks._

The baths were fully equipped; soaps, shampoos, conditioners (_pricey stuff!!_), moisturizers, lotions (of which Tenten never knew there was a difference until now)-- the works. Or so she thought.

After soaking to the point of feeling dizzy, Tenten lifted herself out of the water and onto the slick floor. She remembered that she'd put Neji's borrowed clothes over on that bench by the wall. Now, she just needed a towel.

The search for said towel came up dry. Dry, Tenten was not.

"Oh well. Neji's clothes are thick and baggy. It's fine."

Slipping on the thick and baggy white robes (_four sizes too big, Neji you obese thing, you!_) Tenten made her way out of the bathhouse, dirty clothes in hand. She caught a glimpse of Neji by his garden. "Oi! Neji!" Not-So-Distressed Damsel Kunoichi-san made sure to keep a level pace (so as not to achieve excessive bounce) as she made her way to the distracted boy. "Say," she said, coming to stand by his side as he examined a lily bending in the breeze. "You wouldn't happen to have any wrappings handy, wouldya?"

"Of course not, Tenten," he replied, glancing over. "I _am_ a m--"

Oh. Oh wow.

Neji cough-choked for half a moment, much to Tenten's concern, and turned away.

"... Hinata-sama."

"Eh?"

"She should have your... bindings."

"Oh. Okay! Thanks, Neji!" He heard her footsteps retreating on the grass and turned away once more, covering the lower half of his face with his hand. "By the way, I couldn't find any towels in your bath."

"Aah." Neji cleared his throat. "I noticed."

"Hmm? Okay. Oh, and thanks for the clothes! Sorry to steal them from you!"

_No, no. It was my pleasure._

-pervy fin-

**Yes. Neji has a mental shell, like the pansy turtle he is.  
Reviews would be nice. Very nice. Like rice. And mice. And spice. And dice. POKER!!  
Kyaaargh, Neji, you perv!  
-Bya**


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